Ice House, Shirley Plantation
The ice house at Shirley Plantation, like the Great House (preceding photo) and the kitchen (next photo) is a structure dating from colonial times. Looking out from the front porch of the Great House, the kitchen and ice house both are on the left, with the kitchen being closer to the Great House; a hedge runs between them.
The ice house and the kitchen both are part of the Queen Anne Forecourt, a symmetrical arrangement of four brick structures; the structures facing each other across a central walkway are of the same design: the two-story laundry is across from the two-story kitchen, and the L-shaped store house is across from the matching ice house. The forecourt stretches from the front porch of the Great House to the parking area at the end of the lane leading into the plantation. The plantation's website says this symmetrical forecourt is the only one of its type surviving in North America.
Situated on the James River in Charles City County southeast of Richmond, Shirley Plantation is the oldest plantation in the United States; it was founded in 1613, soon after the 1607 founding of the first permanent English-speaking settlement in North America at nearby Jamestown. Moreover, "Shirley Plantation is the oldest family-owned business in North America dating to Edward Hill I establishing a farm in 1638. Construction of the present mansion began about 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, great-granddaughter of the first Hill, married John Carter, eldest son of Robert "King" Carter. Completed in 1738, the mansion, referred to as the 'Great House,' is largely in its original state and is owned, operated, and resided in by direct descendants of Edward Hill I" [emphasis added].
Ice House, Shirley Plantation
The ice house at Shirley Plantation, like the Great House (preceding photo) and the kitchen (next photo) is a structure dating from colonial times. Looking out from the front porch of the Great House, the kitchen and ice house both are on the left, with the kitchen being closer to the Great House; a hedge runs between them.
The ice house and the kitchen both are part of the Queen Anne Forecourt, a symmetrical arrangement of four brick structures; the structures facing each other across a central walkway are of the same design: the two-story laundry is across from the two-story kitchen, and the L-shaped store house is across from the matching ice house. The forecourt stretches from the front porch of the Great House to the parking area at the end of the lane leading into the plantation. The plantation's website says this symmetrical forecourt is the only one of its type surviving in North America.
Situated on the James River in Charles City County southeast of Richmond, Shirley Plantation is the oldest plantation in the United States; it was founded in 1613, soon after the 1607 founding of the first permanent English-speaking settlement in North America at nearby Jamestown. Moreover, "Shirley Plantation is the oldest family-owned business in North America dating to Edward Hill I establishing a farm in 1638. Construction of the present mansion began about 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, great-granddaughter of the first Hill, married John Carter, eldest son of Robert "King" Carter. Completed in 1738, the mansion, referred to as the 'Great House,' is largely in its original state and is owned, operated, and resided in by direct descendants of Edward Hill I" [emphasis added].